Turkish PM Storms Out of the World Economic Forum

Recep Tayyip Erdogan is silenced in Davos, but returns to a hero’s welcome in Turkey.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan stormed off the stage during a panel discussion about Gaza at the World Economic Forum in Davos on Thursday. Erdogan became upset after the moderator, David Ignatius of the Washington Post, initially refused to let him respond to a passionate 25 minute defense of Israel’s recent incursion into Gaza offered by President Shimon Peres. Ignatius then haltingly agreed to give the prime minister one minute to respond but soon interrupted pleading, “Please…we need to get these people to dinner.” Erdogan’s words may not have been heard in the West, but his actions struck a chord with people in Turkey. He returned to Istanbul in the wee hours of the morning to thousands of cheering supporters waving Turkish and Palestinian flags.
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